Please tell me you're not that naive! The Party leaders have more of a say in who "the winner" is than anything else. And the Party leaders chose Romney and gave him their support.
Sure, the party leaders chose Romney. That doesn’t change the fact that conservatives failed to beat the system. We have to figure out something more productive than “woe is me”. Maybe electing conservatives to Congress and the Senate isn’t the answer, or at least not the whole answer. Putting Romney in the White House certainly isn’t the answer.
Getting rid of Obama would be a tactical victory. Getting rid of Rove and his ilk would be a strategic victory.